Now that we're seeing real, tangible discounts on next-generation gaming PCs, this RTX 4080, which is $260 off the standard price, looks like a bargain for today's gaming PCs, now $2,300 on Newegg (open in new tab)! .

Of course, the Nvidia RTX 4080 (open in new tab) card (represented here by the Gigabyte Eagle OC version) is the machine's biggest draw; the value of Nvidia's second-tier Ada GPUs as drop-in upgrades for the DIY market may not have surprised you, but it becomes a far more attractive prospect when it is installed in a pre-built machine.

That's because the $1,200 sticker price is hard to swallow on its own. But if it represents more than half the price of a full PC and is not stingy with other components, our interest is piqued.

Unlike many "affordable" RTX 4080 builds, this ABS Eurus Aqua machine doesn't rely on a previous-generation CPU platform to save cash or offer a paltry amount of SSD storage; the CPU is the latest Intel Raptor Lake processor generation, with a Core i7 13700F, MSI Z690-A motherboard, and 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory. Backing it up is a 2TB NVMe SSD.

The black and white Thermaltake chassis with RGB fans looks great.

One concern might be the top-down air cooler above the Core i7 CPU; the Raptor Lake chips can get a bit hot under heavy load, and this heatsink does not look the most robust.

The chassis has enough room for the best AIO liquid cooler (open in new tab) or a good CPU air cooler (open in new tab), which could be upgraded fairly easily if the chassis feels too hot.

Tallying up the components within this build, the figure comes to less than $20 short of the $2,300 that Newegg is charging for this fully built, configured, and warranted gaming PC. And that's without taking into account the Windows 11 license. So, basically, you have the advantage.